TRU in the news, and a letter to Councilmembers

Check out the front page of today’s Seattle Times! Here’s the full article. And make sure to buy a copy of Real Change this week – we have an editorial on the second page. And finally, here’s the letter we’re delivering to Councilmembers today:

September 13, 2012

Dear County and City Councilmembers, Mayor, and County Executive:

In July you received a letter from the Transit Riders Union, expressing our concerns over the elimination of the Ride Free Area (RFA) and encouraging you to work toward improving the plan for a free downtown circulator. Since then, we have come to the conclusion that the elimination of the RFA at this time is simply a mistake. For one thing, a circulator adequate to the need would cost nearly as much as Metro expects to gain by eliminating the RFA. Furthermore, the elimination of the RFA is expected to cause substantial service delays and traffic congestion that will affect all riders, and car drivers as well.

Therefore, the Transit Riders Union is petitioning the County Council to reconsider the decision to eliminate the RFA. Our members have been gathering signatures and talking to bus riders downtown for a few hours each week, and we are finding overwhelming support for preserving the RFA. So far we have collected over 1500 signatures, and we expect to have over 2500 by the end of this month.

On Friday, September 28, the last day of the Ride Free Area, we will be holding a Rally and Funeral March to commemorate and protest its elimination. We plan to march from Westlake Park to the County Courthouse, to deliver our petition to the County Council sometime between 4:00 and 5:00 pm.

We are writing now to work out the logistics of this delivery. We can bring a large crowd of riders up to the council offices and present our petition to the Clerk; alternatively, one or more County Councilmembers can meet us outside and receive the petition from us there. County Councilmembers, please let us know what you would prefer.